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64 bar music has signed a one-off deal with a world renowned independent label to release a best of 64 bar challenge digital album.

The compilation will be released in January, first as a digital only download, with plans for a physical release if 200 pre orders are made.

The release will have 20 tracks that represent the premium beats from the six-album mix series.

For those new to 64 bar music, the project was inspired by Cardiff based DJ and producer, Kovas.

It was his idea to create mix projects where all contributors submitted beats 64 bars in length, at an agreed tempo.

The first mix dropped in the summmer of 2009, and the sixth and final mix landed in autumn 2011 with DJ Food at the controls.

Kovas said: “I’m very excited to have signed this deal. It’s recognition of the quaility of the music that has been produced, and proof that good things happen if you do the right things well.

“I can’t reveal what label it is yet, I can’t reveal which tracks are on the compilation either. That will happen when the label do their official launch in the new year.

“I can say that it will be coming out on January 16, and the reason I’m talking today is to try and build some interest and take some pre orders for the vinyl.

The 20 tracks on there are perfect DJ friendly tracks. The range of sounds is broadly dark electronica, with some real moments of sonic beauty.

The 64 bar challenge project has grown in popularity since the first mix. That had just 50 downloads in the first 48 hours. That rose to 500 by the fourth mix, and there were over 5000 plays of the sixth mix when DJ Food played it on Solid Steel.

The latest mix, the 64barchallenge volume 6, has had nearly 400 plays on Mixcloud alone, If you add up the other sites, that number doubles, and if you add the 5.5k plays thanks to it’s appearance on Solid Steel radio, it’s made quite an impact.

“Thanks to Mixcloud for featuring us,” said Kovas. “I am a huge fan of the site and so when they told me this was happening I thought ‘result’ this is bound to mean more plays and more exposure for the project.”

The 64 bar challenge mix series ran six mix albums in a two-year period and featured DJs and producers who came together through the Ninja Tune records forum.

DJ Kovas was the man who came up with the concept where by everyone involved votes for a tempo to make a track 64 bars in length. He explained the project

“It was an idea that just seemed to catch everyone’s imagination. It gave people a reason to start writing beats. A lot of the people of the project had either fallen out of love with making music, or life had got in the way and their music production gear was gathering dust.

“The 64 bar challenge gave everyone a focus.

“The first mix was turned around within a couple of weeks, and It was really well received. Numbers were small, but it had a couple of hundred plays on Postbocks in the first week.

“That was encouragement enough to do another one, and then a third.”

By this stage, the projects were taking up to five months to put together, so the fourth mix was earmarked as the final one in the series.

“It was just becoming too much like a job,” said Kovas. “Liaising with the 30 or so producers, getting the artwork sorted, running the blog, generating pr, uploading and promoting the mixes, it was hard work.”

But the results kept improving and the fourth mix hit 500 plays within 48 hours. Still small, but big enough for the community to call for a fifth mix.

In the end, the sixth mix was released in September 2011, with DJ Food at the controls.

“Having DJ Food on board for the final mix felt like a fitting end. He had backed the project for a while and everyone respects how well he put the mix together, it’s unquestionably the best one of the lot, so a perfect time to call it a day.”